White House ‘official’ rants about Trump in anonymous op-ed

The nation’s capitol teemed with excitement from the left and frustration from the right at an opinion column The New York Times published Wednesday by an anonymous White House official attacking the president’s self-control, morality, and communication style. The op-ed claimed a group of calmer, more righteous politicians is working to hem in President Donald Trump’s perceived recklessness. But the article also praised the Trump administration for achieving deregulation, tax reform, and military readiness.

One of journalists’ and politicians’ first reactions to the column was to speculate about who wrote it. “It’s impossible to evaluate how important it is without knowing how high up the author is,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer tweeted. “There are hundreds of people at the [White House] who think they’re ‘senior’ officials. If this is a cabinet secretary, it’s a problem. Maybe it’s an NSC senior director”—one of many managers whose name and role wouldn’t be widely known outside the agency.

Trump suggested the op-ed could constitute treason and tweeted: “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”